How to sell your house faster

Nov 23, 2015

Each year 900,000 property sellers are unable to achieve the speedy house sale they need (or even manage to sell at all for that matter).

On average, 1.8 million house sales are successful but data from our Government’s Land Registry shows that 1 in 3 home sales fail.

So here are some top tips on how to make your home more valuable and sell faster:

Declutter – but don’t depersonalize

Remove all the excess stuff that has accumulated over the years. Put it in storage or give it to a friend to hold for you until you have made a sale.
Consider removing any bulky furniture that makes the room feel small and replacing it with smaller furniture to give the feel of space.
Buyers need to be able to envisage what the property would look like if they were living there. People often find this difficult, so make it easy for them to define the space available to them and what it can be used for.
People are often buying into a lifestyle as much as a property. Show them the attractive side of your lifestyle.

Create a good first impression – give the front door a new coat of brightly coloured paint and any fences a fresh coat.
Giving your walls a fresh lick of paint, neutral paint will make your home seem lighter and bigger

Make any minor repairs necessary – holes in walls, broken door knobs, cracked tiles. Many buyers want to move in without making changes.
Clean everything until it sparkles. Get rid of limescale, clean and repair tile grout, get rid of all odors, hang up fresh towels. This will make the place more appealing and allow viewers to imagine living there
Clean windows inside and out.
Tidy up the garden: cut bushes back, and cut the grass, clear any rubbish. Buyers will try to visualize themselves using the garden.

The kitchen is the most valuable room in a house. It is worth the most per square foot and can make the difference when buyers are unsure
Consider refacing your kitchen cabinetry. This is much cheaper than installing new cabinetry and often as effective
Declutter the surfaces and just leave a bowl of fruit out. Take out any bulky appliances

Making the place feel light and airy makes rooms feel bigger and the property more attractive
Wall mirrors make a room look much bigger and lighter. Consider putting some up, especially in smaller rooms or hallways
Replace any broken light bulbs and ensure that you have lamps on in any dark corners.
If it’s a cold evening, or even a chilly day, light your fire. Consider burning some pinecones for the delicious smell. This will make your home feel warm and inviting.

Make sure the windows are properly dressed with blinds or curtains as naked windows make a place feel impersonal and run down. Buy some cheap ones if necessary
Plants and flowers bring colour, life and light to a room and also smell delicious. So does that fruit bowl on your kitchen counter

Bad smells are the single biggest turn off for prospective buyers. Don’t just cover them up, fix the source of the smell. Clear drains, wash bins, open windows, air the kitchen from old cooking smells, get rid of furniture that is embedded with cigarette smoke, and wash any grimy bed sheets
If you are a smoker, place bowls of vinegar around the house and leave out for three days. Though the vinegar will smell when you open the windows it will disappear quickly taking a most of the stale cigarette smell out with it

You’ll have chosen a good estate agent so let them show the property
It’s their job to know what things to say, what to highlight and what to downplay
They are also effective at answering those tricky questions about the noisy neighbours